Lifeboat Foundation

Looks like hacking might be alot older then we thought lmao.

Biologists at UC San Diego have documented for the first time how very large viruses reprogram the cellular machinery of bacteria during infection to more closely resemble an animal or human cell—a process that allows these alien invaders to trick cells into producing hundreds of new viruses, which eventually explode from and kill the cells they infect.

In a paper published in the January 13 issue of Science, the researchers conducted a series of experiments that allowed them to view in detail what happens inside bacterial cells as the invading viruses replicate.

Continue reading “Biologists discover how viruses hijack cell’s machinery” »

Over millions of years retroviruses have been incorporated into our human DNA, where they today make up almost 10 per cent of the total genome. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now discovered a mechanism through which these retroviruses may have an impact on gene expression. This means that they may have played a significant role in the development of the human brain as well as in various neurological diseases.

Retroviruses are a special group of viruses including some which are dangerous, such as HIV, while others are believed to be harmless. The viruses studied by Johan Jakobsson and his colleagues in Lund are called endogenous retroviruses (ERV) as they have existed in the human genome for millions of years. They can be found in a part of DNA that was previously considered unimportant, so called junk-DNA — a notion that researchers have now started to reconsider.

“The genes that control the production of various proteins in the body represent a smaller proportion of our DNA than endogenous retroviruses. They account for approximately 2 per cent, while retroviruses account for 8–10 per cent of the total genome. If it turns out that they are able to influence the production of proteins, this will provide us with a huge new source of information about the human brain,” says Johan Jakobsson.

Continue reading “Salmonella Could Be Used To Fight Brain Tumors” »

Over millions of years retroviruses have been incorporated into our human DNA, where they today make up almost 10 per cent of the total genome. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now discovered a mechanism through which these retroviruses may have an impact on gene expression. This means that they may have played a significant role in the development of the human brain as well as in various neurological diseases.

Retroviruses are a special group of viruses including some which are dangerous, such as HIV, while others are believed to be harmless. The viruses studied by Johan Jakobsson and his colleagues in Lund are called endogenous retroviruses (ERV) as they have existed in the human genome for millions of years. They can be found in a part of DNA that was previously considered unimportant, so called junk-DNA — a notion that researchers have now started to reconsider.

“The genes that control the production of various proteins in the body represent a smaller proportion of our DNA than endogenous retroviruses. They account for approximately 2 per cent, while retroviruses account for 8–10 per cent of the total genome. If it turns out that they are able to influence the production of proteins, this will provide us with a huge new source of information about the human brain,” says Johan Jakobsson.

In Brief

• Illumina claims its new NovaSeq sequencing machine will one day be able to sequence an entire genome for less than $100, a process that currently costs about $1,000.
• Cheaper genome sequencing could revolutionize healthcare, allowing doctors to prescribe individualized treatment options for patients.

There are an estimated 25,000 genes in the human genome, comprised of approximately 3 billion nucleotide base pairs. It took the Human Genome Project (HGP) approximately 15 years and $2.7 billion to sequence the entire human genome (minus about 1 percent) using the DNA of several volunteers.

Now, San Diego-based sequencing company Illumina has debuted a new sequencing machine, the NovaSeq (NovaSeq 5000 and NovaSeq 6000), that it says will one day be able to sequence an entire genome for less than $100 in fewer than 60 minutes. This is a steep difference in both cost and time compared to that first sequenced genome, but it follows the trend. In 2006, Illumina released their first machine, which could sequence a genome for $300,000, but by last year, that price had dropped to $1,000.

Continue reading “Soon, You Could Have Your Genome Sequenced in 60 Minutes for $100” »

Senolytics to remove senescent cells will deliver the first “repair” based approach to treat the aging process. This is the arrival of true rejuvenation biotechnology in the SENS model of damage repair.

Senescent cell removal with companies such as Unity, entering human clinical trials in the next 18 months will deliver the first true damage repair rejuevenation biotechnology. This will be the first “repair” approach to the aging process and one the SENS Research Foundation has been advocating for over a decade.

#aging #crowdfundthecure

Continue reading “Is An Anti-Aging Serum In Your Future? Science-Backed Therapy Targeting Senescent Cells May Be The Answer” »

This is probably important.

Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have discovered a protein that fine-tunes the cellular clock involved in aging.

This novel protein, named TZAP, binds the ends of chromosomes and determines how long telomeres, the segments of DNA that protect chromosome ends, can be. Understanding telomere length is crucial because telomeres set the lifespan of cells in the body, dictating critical processes such as aging and the incidence of cancer.

Continue reading “Scientists discover master regulator of cellular aging” »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6m2tmKlJWQ

A genome sequenced every 15 minutes.

Filmed November 2016.

Continue reading “Craig Venter — How Genome Sequencing Can Fight Aging” »

Epigenetic changes are not all reset with iPS thankfully science has recently demonstrated a technique for reversing that too. The future is looking bright for stem cell quality improvements.

Reprogramming stem cells back to a functionally younger state is not a pefect process and epigenetic changes and mutations remain in place tainting the cells and reducing their quality.

Scientists working in the stem cell field will no doubt be finding ways to work around this and indeed recent work at SALK could reset epigenetic changes in these cells so solutions are within reach in the next few years.

Continue reading “Donor Age Shows Up In Induced Stem Cells” »

In Brief

• This two-armed, teleoperated robot can precisely move in a 10 mm space, giving it the ability to operate on eyes more accurately and with less potential for error than human surgeons.
• Axsis is just one of a growing number of robot surgeons that are changing how doctors treat patients.